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Those Who Remain

On Monday night (and early Tuesday morning) I couldn’t sleep. I lay there in bed, wide awake, so I decided to read some news (never a great option for generating sleepiness). After I had read as much as I was willing for the night, I decided to look through my text messages to myself.

I send myself text messages for all kinds of reminders, but one of the most frequent reasons I text myself is when I think of something I’d like to write about.

So while I was looking back through those texts from me to me, I came across one that said simply: Those who remain.

I was stumped.

I lay there pondering, what did I mean? What was I thinking? Was I wondering about characters in games that outlive other characters in games? Was I thinking of games that have outlived their contemporaries?

WHAT

WAS

I

THINKING

???

It’s not even an exaggeration to say I laid there thinking about those three words for literal hours. HOURS.

In the morning, as the dog decided I shouldn’t be trying to sleep anymore, I realized exactly what those words meant: they are the title of a freaking game.

THE TITLE.

I felt simultaneously silly and relieved. Then I went to look up the game.

Those Who Remain is a psychological thriller (developed by Camel 101) dripping with atmosphere. The Fog is one of my favorite horror movies, and I get very similar atmospheric vibes from Those Who Remain.

As described on the Sony PlayStation website:

Those Who Remain is a psychological thriller game that takes place in Dormont, a small town in the US. Dormont appears to be a regular and typical American town at first glance, however it is cursed by a demon who shrouded everything in darkness. Most of the town’s population has been trapped inside the darkness, with no means of escape.

Edward Turner is just an ordinary man with a troubled past, who arrives in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he soon finds out that something is very wrong in Dormont. There are strange creatures roaming in the dark, killing everyone who gets close. The only way to survive is by staying in the light.

The danger in the dark is not the only thing at play in Dormont. There are strange portals that emanate a bright light, which seems to bring anyone that goes through them to another place, similar yet different, apparently unreal but very real. Actions taken in one place have repercussions in the other.

Between the premise, the atmosphere, the trailer, and more than one ending based on your decisions, I’m all in.

For more on the game, you can head to the PlayStation website, and you can find the trailer below.

It’s funny how thoughts return unbidden after trying and trying to recall it. I had that happen last week when I couldn’t remember a change that I needed to make to an important e-mail. It took me a couple of days to remember the edit. That game looks interesting. I enjoy following the smaller games to see what catches on. I can’t wait to begin playing Observer. Maybe next fall I’ll finally play Shadow of the Colossus when the remake goes on sale. Just now I’m very excited to play Rime as a free game next month on Playstation Plus. Yay for small miracles!